Vanessa Poulson

Photo by Sage McAvoy for Refinery29.
In the past few weeks, a variety of states across the U.S. have unveiled new laws that restrict women’s access to abortions. Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed into law the state's so-called "heartbeat bill," an effective ban on abortions more than six weeks into a pregnancy, and Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed the state's controversial near-total abortion ban Wednesday evening. Draconian new anti-abortion measures have also won wide margins of approval i...

I’ve always had somewhat of a fascination with the Roman city of Pompeii. I remember learning about it for the first time back in first or second grade and wanting so badly to understand how it was that a city could be entirely destroyed and forgotten about and then reborn through modern science, technology, and the ability to find something beautiful in a place where tragedy had struck.

It’s hard to imagine something like Pompeii being anything more than a tragedy. Thousands of people lost t...

Abortion has been a difficult subject long before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, particularly so in the American South. In a region where Republican and religious values rule, often more so than legal regulation, getting an abortion has become increasingly difficult in these southern states, despite the procedure being entirely legal nationwide. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion would automatically become illegal in four states: Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Mississippi...

Penn LPS Coding Boot Camp instructor Quincy Iheme never expected his boot camp participants to give him a pair of tickets for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles for his birthday.
“Most of the class were Eagles fans,” said Quincy. “The fact that they got a gift like that took a lot of thought and coordination between the students. During class, I often made jokes at the Eagles’ expense, and I know how difficult it must have been for them to buy tickets for a Giants fan!”
The s...

The word “advent,” as defined in the dictionary, means the “arrival of a notable person, thing or event.” Florida Hospital’s coming transformation to AdventHealth, a new national, consumer-centric brand based in Central Florida, is set to be no different.
“Florida Hospital was built on a strong foundation, but it’s time we turn from the past and take a leap into the future,” said Florida Hospital president and CEO Daryl Tol. “We’re creating a health care system that’s easier to navigate, simp...

I’ve always had really vivid past memories of Valentine’s Day. For example, I could tell you about the time that my crush in the first grade gave chocolate to the girl that used to draw awful pictures of me and pull my hair every day instead of me. Or, I could talk about the bus ride home on that fateful February 14 in seventh grade where a boy I didn’t even know gave me a stuffed teddy bear and walked off the bus, and I never saw him again. I could tell you about what it feels like to be in ...

CW: The following piece contains descriptions of animal abuse.

In 27 states across the United States, it is illegal or unlawful to gives away animals as prizes. This includes giving them away by the side of the road, dying the animals artificial colors before giving them away, and offering them as prizes at fairs or carnivals. On this list of states that prohibit these kinds of behaviors is Alabama, where I currently reside, and where just last weekend I witnessed bunnies being offered as pri...

With the recent release of both Netflix and Hulu documentaries about the notorious Fyre Festival, the highs and lows of an experience sold via social media and bought by celebrity-worshippers and social media influencers have been pushed back into the public eye once again.
Need a recap? Fyre Festival was a luxury music festival that was supposed to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma over two weekends in April and May of 2017. Attendees were to stay in luxury tents and be served...

So many of us here in Lake Nona come from different places and have different stories of how we wound up in the Nonahood. No two stories are the same, with each comprised of individuals making the choice to pick up and move from another part of Florida, another state, or even another country. This is How We Got Here, telling stories one at a time of how different families from all different walks of life ended up in Lake Nona.
The Hahn Family, made up of Mark, Jaimee, Allison (19), Kelsey (12...

Esther Gregory’s story of artistic discovery began in 2010 when she found herself with a friend inside an art museum while going through a difficult time in her life. Whilst looking at all of the paintings, admiring the artistic talent and detailed work that went into each of the paintings, she became suddenly inspired to pursue an artistic venture of her own.
Of course, Gregory had doubts at first. She was overwhelmed with responsibilities, had no artistic training, no desire to return to sc...

According to an article published in The Washington Post, there was a recent study of World Health Organization data published in the American Journal of Medicine that found that, among high-income nations, 91 percent of children younger than 15 who were killed by bullets lived in the United States. And the trends are only growing more dire. On average, two dozen children are shot every day in the United States, and in 2016 more youths were killed by gunfire – 1,637 – than during any previous...

By Vanessa Poulson
For the Opelika Observer
Opelika resident Luanne Helms was recently awarded the Mike Tumlin Advocacy Award for her work with the Autism Society of Alabama.
As the organization’s area coordinator since 2012, Helms has organized numerous family events, fundraisers and training. Her chapter has successfully trained more than 285 First Responders in East Alabama, helping them become aware of and trained in Autism Risk and Safety Management.
The award is named after native Alaba...

Most of these fires spurred from California’s consistent lack of rain, as well as compounding atmospheric conditions linked to global warming. Recent research on wildfires in California, published in August 2018, predicted an increase in the number of wildfires as a consequence of climate change. These unheard-of conditions helped to craft a new batch of wildfires that included the Woolsey Fire and the Camp Fire, the latter of which killed at least 85 people.
It’s not only California that is ...